President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared a state of disaster the Silver Moon and Cricket Mines disasters in Kadoma.

The government will assist in the burial of all the victims should the bodies be retrieved.

Speaking to ZBC News, the Director of the Civil Protection Department Mr Nathan Nkomo said relative of each victim will receive $1000 which will go towards meeting burial costs plus one blanket to each victim among other forms of assistance.

It is now suspected that the number of victims in the two mine disasters could be between 60 and 70.

Meanwhile, the pumping out of water from the mine shafts and tunnels is underway and has since been intensified.

The miners drowned on Wednesday this week after the two mines were flooded following the collapse of a bridge to a water weir which resulted in water being released downstream.